Residents flee air strikes on Syria border town

CEYLANPINAR, Turkey A Syrian warplane struck homes in the town of Ras al-Ain on Tuesday within sight of the Turkish border, pursuing an aerial bombardment to force out rebels and drawing a new warning from Ankara.

The second day of jet strikes sent Syrians scurrying through the flimsy barbed-wire fence that divides Ras al-Ain from the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar as thick plumes of smoke rose above the town.

Medical workers and refugees in Ceylanpinar said bombing on Monday and Tuesday struck residential areas of Ras al-Ain, which fell to rebels last week during an advance into Syria's mixed Arab and Kurdish northeast.

The offensive has caused some of the biggest refugee movements since the armed revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year, and brought the war back perilously close to Turkish soil.

Turkey is reluctant to be drawn into a regional conflict but the proximity of the bombing raids to the border is testing its pledge to defend itself from any violation of its territory or any spillover of violence from Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Ankara would not hesitate to respond if threatened.

"We are giving the necessary response on the border and will not refrain from a much harsher response if necessary," he told deputies of his AK Party. "Nobody should play with fire or try to test Turkey's patience."

A Turkish health official at the hospital in Ceylanpinar said rebel fighters were trying to pull the wounded from under the rubble of a house. Refugees say the fighters are taking cover in homes, many of them abandoned by residents who have fled for Turkey.

"As soon as we heard the jets, we knew they would bomb. It hit another house just 100 meters away," Mohammad Kahan, 49, a Kurd who fled Ras al-Ain with nine members of his family, said of Monday's bombardment.

"This won't stop, Assad will not go until America and Britain come and stop him. Only these two can stop him."

NO-FLY ZONE?

Opposition activists say at least a dozen people died on Monday, the latest of an estimated 38,000 victims of the 19-month civil war. The casualty toll on Tuesday was not known.

Turkey has repeatedly fired back in retaliation for stray gunfire and mortar rounds flying across its 900 km (560 mile) border with Syria, and is talking to NATO allies about the possible deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles.

Ankara says this would be a defensive step, but it could also be a prelude to enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria to limit the reach of Assad's air power. Western powers have so far been reluctant to take such a step.

Rebels fired machineguns mounted on pick-up trucks at the jet as it swooped low over Ras al-Ain, dropping three bombs before returning for a second strike on another part of the town, said a Reuters witness on the Turkish side of the border.

Ambulances with sirens wailing ferried the wounded from the border for treatment in Ceylanpinar.

In one 24-hour period last week, some 9,000 Syrians fled fighting during a rebel advance into Syria's northeast, swelling to over 120,000 the number of registered refugees in Turkish camps, with winter setting in.

Syrian refugees try to cross the border fence from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain into Turkey during an air strike on Ras al-Ain, in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 13, 2012. A Syrian warplane struck homes in the town of Ras al-Ain...

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Turkish soldiers surround Syrian refugees trying to cross the border fence from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain to Turkey during an air strike on Ras al-Ain, in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 13, 2012. A Syrian warplane struck...

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A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an anti-aircraft artillery weapon during an air strike in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 13, 2012. A Syrian warplane struck homes in the town of Ras al-Ain on...

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Syrian refugees point out their town of Ras al-Ain during an air strike on the town, as they stand on the Turkish-Syrian border in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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A Syrian family from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain walk after they crossed the border fences to flee Turkey in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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A Syrian family from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain is escorted by a Turkish soldier after they crossed the border fences to flee Turkey in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Residents of the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain run as smoke rises after an air strike on the town, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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A Syrian man who was wounded during an air strike on the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, is taken to an ambulance in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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People from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain cross the border fences to flee into Turkey at the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Syrians from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain cross the border fences to flee to Turkey in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Syrians from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain cross the border fences to flee into Turkey in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Syrians from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain wait behind the border fences to cross into Turkey as Turkish troops patrol in the town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Free Syrian Army fighters holding machine guns are seen in Ras al-Ain, from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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A Free Syrian Army fighter walks next to a truck in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Syrians from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain cross border fences to flee into Turkey in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Smoke rises over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain after an air strike, seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 12, 2012.

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Smoke rises over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain after an air strike, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 13, 2012. A Syrian warplane struck homes in the town of Ras al-Ain on Tuesday within sight of the Turkish border, pursuing an...